Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:06 am Post subject: Good news! The first year is generally the worst .

Hi Again and Ghost

&#304;f I look back to my first teaching year I have to admit it was not a bed of roses,however I survived and decided to carry on. My other half wanted to go back before we even started because of the cultural differences here not to mention we arrived at the time of the Kurban and watching sheep being ritually slaughted was not on the agenda .
Still you learn to live with these things and in many instances learn to turn a blind eye to things we see on a daily basis . Don'tthink you are the first to go through this Ghost we have alll being there at some time but its all about adapting to what and where you are ,Ithink its also fair tosay that most of us didn't have the chance to converse with fellow teachers about our experiences however painful that might be for you now Ghost be grateful that we are responding rather than just not bothering, which is the alternative to what you get at the moment, so make the most of it learn to enjoy what you can ,when you can and keep pluging away it won't change where ever you go so just learn to adapt .

Nothing new on the home front. A trip to Romania is being prepared (November 22-29) during the Bayram holiday, and a comparison of the two countries will be attempted (as much as one can do that in one week).

Language schools will be looked at over there, and other things relevant to living and working there.

On the home front you folks know what the general situation is like here, and things are unlikely to change because in that respect the speed of change in Turkey is 'glacial' at best.

Some of us want out of this place because there is little/no room for professional advancement. But at least no concrete complaints at this time. Boredom is also a huge factor, but that point has also been covered.

Ghost, I think you'll find that Romania is frustratingly similar to Turkey... I was stranded there one winter a few years ago when caught between train strikes and debilitating blizzards. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out Sighisoara-- lovely town, very beautiful. I was there for two weeks over Christmas and stayed with a family there in the walled part of the city. Very friedly folks, great homemade vodka and sausages (that was breakfast!). The rest of the country is also quite interesting and worth a look but you may find the transport system frustratingly inefficient/disorganised.